1 Cabinet Member Report Decision Maker: Cabinet Member for Sustainability and Parking Date: 25 November 2015 Classification: For General Release Title: ‘Reducing the Harm of Shisha: Towards a Strategy for Westminster’ – Approval for Consultation Wards Affected: All City for All Summary City of Choice, City of Heritage – Visible, effective enforcement combined with pro-active, long-term interventions to improve local community safety. Reducing the Harm of Shisha: Towards a Strategy for Westminster sets out a draft strategy to address the health impacts and nuisance caused by unregulated shisha smoking. Key Decision: No Financial Summary: There are no direct financial implications as a result of the recommendations of this report as any costs associated with public consultation will be met from existing budgets Report of: Director of Policy, Performance and Communications
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Cabinet Member Report
Decision Maker: Cabinet Member for Sustainability and Parking
Date: 25 November 2015
Classification: For General Release
Title: ‘Reducing the Harm of Shisha: Towards a Strategy for Westminster’ – Approval for Consultation
Wards Affected: All
City for All Summary City of Choice, City of Heritage – Visible, effective enforcement combined with pro-active, long-term interventions to improve local community safety. Reducing the Harm of Shisha: Towards a Strategy for Westminster sets out a draft strategy to address the health impacts and nuisance caused by unregulated shisha smoking.
Key Decision: No
Financial Summary: There are no direct financial implications as a result of the recommendations of this report as any costs associated with public consultation will be met from existing budgets
Report of: Director of Policy, Performance and Communications
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1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
1.1 Over recent years there has been an increase in the numbers of people smoking shisha and in the number of shisha bars in Westminster. Shisha smoking is harmful to health and shisha bars can cause a number of amenity problems leading to enforcement issues. A Shisha Working Group was established to coordinate the council’s action and to develop a strategy to deal with the health impacts and the nuisance, amenity and harm caused by unregulated shisha smoking.
1.2 A draft strategy, Reducing the Harm of Shisha: Towards a Strategy for
Westminster, is attached at Appendix B. This report seeks approval to issue the draft strategy for public consultation. This will enable the wider issue of shisha to be debated and the council’s proposed response to this growing trend would be seen in context.
2. RECOMMENDATION
2.1 That the Cabinet Member for Sustainability and Parking agree the draft strategy Reducing the Harm of Shisha: Towards a Strategy for Westminster for public consultation.
3. REASONS FOR DECISION
3.1 This strategy to deal with the health impacts and the nuisance and harm to amenity caused by unregulated shisha smoking will contribute towards the following priorities set out in City for All:
City of Choice – We will create opportunities for residents, businesses and visitors to make informed and responsible choices for themselves, their families and their neighbourhood
City of Heritage – We will protect and enhance Westminster’s unique heritage so that every neighbourhood remains a great place to live, work and visit both now and in the future
4. BACKGROUND
4.1 Shisha smoking is a way of smoking tobacco or herbal smoking product (which can be flavoured) through a waterpipe or hookah. Businesses are not required to have a specific licence for shisha smoking, and there is no definitive list of premises in Westminster. However, the Council is aware of a large number of premises which offer shisha smoking through its licensing, trading standards, planning and enforcement functions. Premises Licensing have identified 132
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known shisha premises in Westminster, with new premises continuing to open. The majority of these are concentrated along the Edgware Road, though a number are opening in other areas such as the West End. As well as being practised by established ethnic communities in Westminster, shisha smoking has become popular with students and young people from wider ethnic backgrounds.
4.2 Despite widely held misconceptions about the relative safety of shisha smoking –
sometimes due to the misapprehension that smoking the tobacco through water ‘filters’ it of toxins – shisha smoking is at least as harmful to health as cigarette smoking. Public shisha smoking and the premises in which it takes place can also give rise to or contribute towards a number of amenity and quality of life issues, such as unauthorised or dangerous structures, noise and smells particularly late at night. In addition, shisha products sold in the UK are mainly illicit, with no duties paid. Whilst some of the health and amenity concerns can be managed using a range of existing regulatory powers, some areas of concern remain.
4.3 A Shisha Working Group was established by the Chairman of Licensing, and is currently chaired by the Cabinet Member for Sustainability and Parking. The group brings together ward councillors and officers from a range of key services including Noise & Licensing Enforcement, Food, Health & Safety, Development Planning, City Planning, Communications and Strategy, and Tri-borough Public Health. The Group has considered a wide range of issues relating to shisha smoking and the impacts it has for Westminster’s communities and the city council itself. Health concerns and implications for public realm amenity and management have been looked at, in context with the legislative backdrop and the council’s role in terms of education, protection of public health, and enforcement. It is on the basis of these discussions that the strategic document ‘Reducing the Harm of Shisha: Towards a Strategy for Westminster’ has been developed.
4.4 The Adult Services & Health Policy & Scrutiny Committee also considered shisha smoking in 2013. The focus here was on its health impacts and the Committee commissioned further research into shisha usage in Westminster. The report Public Health Implications of Shisha Smoking in London by Dr Jawad of Imperial College was received in July of that year. The report summarises the current known health effects associated with shisha smoking and reviews international legislation. It also summarised recent London studies into the prevalence of shisha smoking, and the attitudes, beliefs and knowledge of groups of shisha smokers. It also reviews local authority responses in London to the issue of shisha premises. It is proposed to publish this report alongside the draft strategy.
THE STRATEGY
4.5 A draft strategy document has been prepared to establish a framework for a range of actions the council proposes to tackle the problems associated with
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shisha smoking, and to identify further actions (see Appendix B). There are three main strands to the strategy:
Educate and Engage – engaging with both shisha smokers and businesses to raise awareness of the health and amenity impacts of shisha smoking, to help drive behaviour change.
Regulate the Activity – a range of regulatory tools can be used to help limit the impact of shisha smoking, involving different services and agencies. The council needs to best utilise the available powers in a coordinated and cost effective way.
Lobbying and Partnership – with no specific regulatory system in place to manage public shisha smoking, there is a need to lobby for changes to legislation to enable better regulation of commercial premises offering this service. Existing powers are used to good effect in some cases, but on their own they do not adequately support the council to work with shisha businesses to ensure they are compliant within a reasonable timeframe. Shisha smoking is a London and nation-wide issue and it is important to further develop our relationships with partner agencies, working jointly, sharing learning and moving forward with a unified position on shisha smoking, ensuring we can get the best results from our collective efforts.
4.6 To support the aims of the strategy – and with a particular view to delivering on the ‘educate and engage’ theme, officers have also prepared guidance for businesses which offer shisha services, in the form of dedicated website pages and a summary leaflet (see Appendix C). This is being finalised for final publication, following consultation with relevant departments. This guidance is designed to advise owners of their responsibilities under the law, ensuring they are fully aware of how to operate a compliant, well managed business. This, in turn, supports the council to take a robust stance in those cases where enforcement is needed.
4.7 In addition, funding of £10,000 has been secured from the tri-borough Smokefree Alliance to deliver a symposium event, which will focus on raising awareness of the risks of shisha smoking and how to best drive changes in behaviour among target audiences. The event will aim to include international speakers and delegates to hear global perspectives. It is suggested that the symposium event would take place in spring 2016 and would be used as a platform to launch a final, post-consultation version of the strategic document.
4.8 Other work that has been undertaken and is ongoing by the council to tackle the health and amenity impacts of shisha smoking include:
The Chairman of the Licensing Committee has presented to the first National Shisha Conference to share our approach, discuss best practice and issues for lobbying with other local authorities.
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Officers have worked with Public Health England on a draft of the emerging National Shisha Toolkit.
Tri-Borough Public Health has commissioned campaigns aimed at raising awareness of the health dangers of shisha somking. One amongst the Bangladeshi and Arabic speaking communities, and another targetting students, particularly during fresher weeks at universities and colleges.
As part of the emerging policy development for the Westminster City Plan, a series of policy booklets have been published for public consultation. One of these presented a draft planning policy on shisha. This policy will eventually be part of the Council’s statutory plan and would be used primarily for determining planning applications and taking enforcement action.
4.9 This range of activity supports and reinforces the messages in ‘Reducing the Harm: Towards a Strategy for Westminster.’
5. FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS 5.1 There are no direct financial implications as a result of the recommendations in
this report. Any costs associated with public consultation will be met from existing budgets.
6. LEGAL IMPLICATIONS 6.1 There is no specific duty to produce a strategy. However it is in the interests of
the council, residents, businesses and other stakeholders that the Council sets out clearly the range of actions it is taking and intends to take to tackle the problems associated with shisha smoking.
6.2 The terms of reference for the Cabinet Member for Sustainability and Parking
include responsibility for the Council’s Shisha Strategy, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Adults and Public Health and the Cabinet Member for Public Protection.
7. CONSULTATION 7.1 Consultation on the draft strategy will be undertaken with a range of community
and other stakeholders, including amenity and residents’ societies, businesses (including the shisha premises themselves and Business Improvement Districts and estates), charitable and voluntary organisations, community associations, ethnic associations, faith organisations, health and educational organisations, housing associations, landowners, the police, fire brigade and HMRC.
7.2 The intention, subject to Cabinet Member approval, is to finalise the draft
document and release for consultation in November 2015. The guidance for shisha businesses would be published at the same time, supporting the position set out in the document that the city council will always endeavour to educate
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business about their responsibilities and support them to operate in a way that complies with the law. This will be complemented by the implementation of new, dedicated pages on the council’s website which will link to further useful information. The consultation documentation itself will all be provided online and consultees will be invited to respond by email (although the option to respond by post will of course also be available).
7.3 The consultation would run for at least six weeks until January, at which point
responses will be reviewed and revisions made to the document as appropriate. This should enable the final document to be launched spring 2016, in line with the proposed symposium event. A summary of the consultation timetable and associated work streams is attached at Appendix D.
7.4 Initial public consultation has already been undertaken on the draft planning
policy for shisha smoking as part of the revision to the Westminster City Plan (see Appendix E). The draft policy was published on the council’s website on 12 March 2014 in consultation booklet ‘Food, Drink, Entertainment, Tourism, Arts and Culture’ for a six week period. In accordance with the Statement of Community Involvement consultation was undertaken with all Members, statutory consultees, the Mayor of London and the GLA family, consultees registered on the local plan database (currently comprising about 500 consultees including members of the public and residents’ groups) and internal consultees within the City Council, including SEB and the Senior Leadership Team. In addition, 130 shisha premises were contacted by letter to draw their attention specifically to the consultation on the new draft policy on shisha smoking. 20 responses were received regarding this policy, five of which were objections and 13 were in support.
8 BUSINESS PLAN IMPLICATIONS
8.1 The publication and consultation on the draft strategy Reducing the Harm of Shisha: Towards a Strategy for Westminster will contribute towards the following
priorities set out in City for All:
City of Choice – We will create opportunities for residents, businesses and visitors to make informed and responsible choices for themselves, their families and their neighbourhood
City of Heritage – We will protect and enhance Westminster’s unique heritage so that every neighbourhood remains a great place to live, work and visit both now and in the future
9 EQUALITIES
9.1 Under the Equality Act 2010, we have a duty to have due regard to the need to: eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation and any other conduct prohibited by the Act; advance equality of opportunity between people
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who share a protected characteristic and people who do not share it; and foster good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and people who do not share it. The protected characteristics covered by the Equality Duty are as follows:
Age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership (but only in respect of eliminating unlawful discrimination), pregnancy and maternity, race – this includes ethnic or national origins, colour or nationality, religion or belief – this includes lack of belief, sex, sexual orientation
9.2 Consideration has been given to the potential impact of the draft strategy in terms of these duties through an Equalities Impact Assessment (please see Appendix F).
If you have any queries about this Report or wish to inspect any of the Background Papers please contact: Collette Willis 020 7641 2387
APPENDICES B. Towards a Healthier Westminster: Reducing the Harm of Shisha C. Draft Shisha Guidance for Business D. Consultation timetable E. Draft City Plan Policy on Shisha Smoking F. Equalities Impact Assessment
BACKGROUND PAPERS Public Health Implications of Shisha Smoking in London (2013) Dr Mohammed Jawad, Imperial College London. Published by Westminster City Council.
1. For completion by the Cabinet Member for Sustainability and Parking Declaration of Interest I have <no interest to declare / to declare an interest> in respect of this report
Signed: Date:
NAME:
State nature of interest if any …………………………………………………………..…… ………………………………………………………………………………………………….. (N.B: If you have an interest you should seek advice as to whether it is appropriate to make a decision in relation to this matter) For the reasons set out above, I agree the recommendation(s) in the report entitled Reducing the Harm of Shisha: Towards a Strategy for Westminster– Approval for Consultation and reject any alternative options which are referred to but not recommended. Signed ……………………………………………… Cabinet Member for Sustainability and Parking Date ………………………………………………… If you have any additional comment which you would want actioned in connection with your decision you should discuss this with the report author and then set out your comment below before the report and this pro-forma is returned to the Secretariat for processing. Additional comment: …………………………………….…………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………..…………………………… …………………………………………………………………….……………………………. If you do not wish to approve the recommendations, or wish to make an alternative decision, it is important that you consult the report author, the Head of Legal and Democratic Services, Strategic Director Finance and Performance and, if there are resources implications, the Strategic Director of Resources (or their representatives) so that (1) you can be made aware of any further relevant considerations that you should take into account before making the decision and (2) your reasons for the decision can be properly identified and recorded, as required by law. Note to Cabinet Member: Your decision will now be published and copied to the Members of the relevant Policy & Scrutiny Committee. If the decision falls within the criteria for call-in, it will not be implemented until five working days have elapsed from publication to allow the Policy and Scrutiny Committee to decide whether it wishes to call the matter in.
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Appendix A
Other Implications
1 Resource Implications
1.1 None
2 Staffing Implications 2.1 None.
3 Risk Management Implications
3.1 None
4 Crime and Disorder Implications
4.1 None
5 Human Rights Implications
5.1 None
6 Impact on the Environment
6.1 None
7 Energy Measure Implications
7.1 None
8 Communications Implications
8.1 None
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Appendix B Reducing the Harm of Shisha: Towards a Strategy for Westminster
Appendix C
Draft Shisha Guidance for Business
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Appendix D Consultation Timetable Reducing the Harm of Shisha: Towards a Strategy for Westminster
November 2015 Cabinet Member report seeking approval to consult
November 2015 Subject to CM approval, finalising and proofreading of consultation document
Finalising consultees list
Planning for symposium event begins
November 2015 Development of new consultation pages
November 2015 Strategy document launched for consultation
Draft business guidance published and promoted to relevant businesses
CONSULTATION PERIOD
January 2016 Consultation closes
January 2016 Review and refinements to draft
February 2016 Review / sign off of revised draft by Shisha Working Group
February 2016 Final draft submitted for Cabinet Member approval
March 2016 Awareness raising / behaviour change symposium event
March 2016 Final launch of Reducing the Harm document
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Appendix E Draft City Plan Policy on Shisha Smoking
NEW POLICY CM24.X: SHISHA SMOKING Proposals for use of premises and outdoor areas for shisha smoking will only be acceptable where it is demonstrated that there will be no adverse effects when assessed against the criteria set out in table 4.24A and in particular on:
1. residential amenity and the nature of the impact;
2. local environmental quality;
3. the character or function of the area, in particular potential negative impact upon vitality or viability of shopping centres;
4. health and safety, including levels of crime, anti-social behaviour and night-time disturbance
In applying this policy the council will take into account the size of use, scale of activity, relationship to any existing concentrations of shisha premises and other uses which occur late at night including any cumulative impact particularly in the Stress Areas.
In areas of existing concentrations of premises used for shisha smoking the council will use its planning and other powers to reduce their number in order to mitigate the impact on local environments and amenity.
Applicants will be required to demonstrate how they will minimise adverse effects. The council may in particular, impose conditions to control:
• Opening hours
• Numbers of customers who may be present
• The arrangements to be made to safeguard amenity and prevent smells and noise disturbance
• Servicing arrangements
• Arrangements for storage, handling and disposal of waste, recyclable materials and customer litter
• Arrangements for storage, handling and disposal of charcoal used for burning of waterpipes
• Positioning of tables, chairs and associated structures in open areas (see also CM18.1A Managing Commerce in the Public Realm)
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Table 4.24A Food, drink and Entertainment Assessment Criteria
• The type and size of use: taking into account the type of use proposed (e.g.
restaurant, bar or combination of uses); gross floorspace to be occupied by the
proposed use; its capacity in terms of covers, standing customers etc;
• Scale of activity: taking into account: the proposed opening hours, including
whether the premises operate only during daytime/evening hours, or include
night time operation (taking into account that the later the hour of operation,
the greater the impact is likely to be). This assessment will have regard to the
operating hours of adjoining premises; servicing arrangements; positioning of
tables and chairs (if applicable) in open areas within the curtilage of the
premises; increased parking and traffic etc; `
• Location: taking into account the relationship to any existing concentrations of
entertainment uses, in particular the number, type and distribution of food , drink
and entertainment uses in the vicinity and any cumulative impacts;
• Residential amenity: taking into account the number and proximity of residential
uses and potential for noise and disturbance in particular when residents would
normally be expected to sleep;
• Public Health and safety: which may include existing levels of crime, anti-social
behaviour and night-time disturbance; and public health matters;
• Local environmental quality: the provision of effective measures to prevent and
arrangements for the storage, handling and disposal of waste and recyclable
materials and measures to prevent noise and vibration disturbance, light
pollution, smells, fumes prejudicial to health (including those from extract
ventilation/plant), and customer litter;
• The character and function of the area: Including the existing character and function and potential negative impact upon residential areas; the vitality or viability of shopping centres; or adverse effect on community uses such as places of worship, or schools etc.
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Appendix F Equalities Impact Assessment of Reducing the Harm of Shisha: Towards a Strategy for
